Based on the best selling novel, the story follows the hard trek across a Saudi Arabian desert during the Gulf War. More Three Kings than Pearl Harbour in its portrayl of the hell of war.

Arguably the most intelligently written film to feature the masterful stop-motion animation of Ray Harryhausen, Jason and the Argonauts is a colorful adventure that takes full advantage of Harryhausen's "Dynarama" process. Inspired by the Greek myth, the story begins when the fearless explorer Jason (Todd Armstrong) returns to the kingdom of Thessaly to make his rightful claim to the throne, but the gods proclaim that he must first find the magical Golden Fleece. Consulting Hera, the queen of gods, Jason recruits the brave Argonauts to crew his ship, and they embark on their eventful journey. Along the way they encounter a variety of mythic creatures, including the 100-foot bronze god Talos, the batlike Harpies, the seven-headed reptilian Hydra, and an army of skeletons wielding sword and shield. That last sequence remains one of the finest that Harryhausen ever created, and it's still as thrilling as anything from the age of digital special effects. Harryhausen was the true auteur of his fantasy films and his brilliant animation evokes a timeless sense of wonder. Jason and the Argonauts is a prime showcase for Harryhausen's talent--a wondrous product of pure imagination and filmmaking ingenuity. --Jeff Shannon

A ferocious day-glo-coloured complement to Michael Lehmann's majestically spiteful late-80s teen black comedy Heathers, Jawbreaker invites us into the immaculately turned-out and deeply, deeply venal world of a quartet of high-school princesses led by one Courtney Shayne (Rose McGowan)--or "Satan in heels", as she's known to her peer group. The only thing is, Courtney's gang don't stay a quartet for long after the one vaguely likeable member of the group, Liz (Charlotte Ayanna) dies following a malicious birthday prank executed by her caring, sharing girlfriends. (All we can say is that it involves the titular hunk of candy.)

Triumphantly convincing the world Liz was, in fact, the victim of a serial killer, Courtney gets on with ruling school with a manicured iron fist--except she didn't bargain for the sudden discovery of a conscience by her lieutenant Julie (Rebecca Gayheart), or the rumbling of her plan by class geek Fern Mayo (Judy Greer). In truth, no matter how badly Jawbreaker wants to be Heathers, there's little of the sharp, acidic wit or satirical glee which Lehmann brought to the table in the earlier movie--just a sticky and a faintly unpleasant aftertaste. That said, there's a certain cartoonish vibrancy to the proceedings, however predictably they unfold, and if McGowan's Joan Crawford Jr shtick as the vampish queen-bitch Shayne hardly extends her range as an actress, it's an accomplished piece of type-casting. --Danny Leigh